1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game machine provided with a plurality of targets which unpredictably come out and disappear from its corresponding holes at the surface of a table on a game stand, and wherein a player can strike some of targets only which are positioned above the surface thereof, and more particularly to an up-and-down motion mechanism and a hitting detection mechanism for the target.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A game machine of this kind has been known under a name of the so-called "mole striking game machine" in which the target is patterned after the model of a character of a mole, but an up-and-down motion for the target was performed by using a lever 8 rocked by a crank mechanism as shown in FIG. 1, pushing up a supporting rod 6 for a target 4 by means of the lever 8, and causing a target head portion 5 to thrust out of an associated hole 3 provided at the surface of a table 2 on a game stand 1. However, in the case of such conventional game machine as stated above, the production cost thereof was high because there were a lot of mechanical components, and many troubles had been reported. The machine itself was not very durable because mechanical portions such as bearing 7 and lever 8 were often subjected to unreasonable forces applied when the target was struck or knocked. In addition, the detection for hitting was performed by a combination of a microswitch MS disposed within the target head portion 5 and an operating lever 9 projected into the target head portion 5, so that the hitting detection mechanism was often damaged by unnatural forces induced by hitting or other various external shocks.